Another Year at Hogwarts

In the weeks that followed my talk with Ollivanders about Scarlet, I begun check up on him and Luna daily. All of this, of course was done in secret. Thankfully sneaking around was easy to do since hardly anyone was ever at the Malfoy Manor.

Though Snape would probably kill me for doing this, I would sometimes talk to Luna about everything that’s been going on. I would spill my heart out to her and tell her about all of my concerns. But every time I left for the night, I would have to alter her memory so that she wouldn’t be able to recall anything I told her. It was dangerous, yes. But I couldn’t stand to keep bottling everything up.

As I was heading out of my room one evening to go check up on Luna and Ollivanders, I found Draco waiting outside of my room.

“Draco!” I exclaimed.

“Sneaking off somewhere again?” Draco questioned.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“I saw you sneaking out of your room the other day,” Draco informed as he pushed himself off the wall. “What have you been doing, Victoria? Nothing good, I would assume.”

“For you information, I HAVE to sneak about now that your aunt is back,” I said half-truthfully. “She—clearly—is still out for revenge.”

Draco grinned. “So you’ve noticed?”

I let a smile fall upon my face. “I’m amazed the entire wizardry world doesn’t know she’s out to get me. Then again…maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t know that everybody knows,” I laughed.

Draco didn’t make a comment. Instead, he just stared at me for a moment with a peaceful grin on his face. I had simply thought that he didn’t have anything to add, but that wasn’t the case. Looking into his eyes, I could see that his mind had wondered off to something else…

“W—why are you staring at me like that?” I nervously asked.

“I think,” Draco said with a widened smile, “…I think that’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh.”

I felt my face immediately flush.

This only made Draco’s smile grow wider. “And the first time I’ve seen you blush.”

“I—I am not!” I shuttered as I turned and quickly began walking down the hallway.

“Yes you are!” Draco shouted as he followed me down the hallway. “Are you embarrassed? There’s nothing to be a shame of,” Draco said as he reached out and took my hand. He stopped us at the top of the stairs and said, while looking directly into my eyes, “You have…you have a very beautiful smile and…and a very…a very charming laugh. You really should smile more.”

My heart was beating uncontrollably in my chest. The thumping of my heart echoed so loudly against my chest that I was sure Draco could hear it.

He then reached his hand up and brushed aside a stand of my hair. “When you smile…you have…this spark in your eyes… A spark just like—”

Draco immediately stopped before he finished his sentence, and I felt as though my heart had stopped as well.

“Violet?” I croaked.

“I didn’t mean—”

“I’m heading down for dinner,” I said while slipping my hand out of his grasp.

“Victoria!” Draco exclaimed as he reached for me.

“Let go of me, Draco,” I ordered as I tried to slap his hand away from me.

“Listen to me for a moment!” Draco requested as he gently pinned me against the wall by the shoulder.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say about Violet!” I shouted.

“Just hear me out!” he plead.

No! Don’t do this! I shouted at myself. Don’t do this. You’re just going to regret it. Don’t listen to him. Just walk away. Walk away right now…

“Let go of me first,” I demanded.

Draco nodded and let his hands slip from my shoulder. He then said, “You remind me a lot of Violet…”

“Never mind, I don’t want to hear—”

“I’m not trying to replace you with Violet!” Draco quickly said while staring directly into my eyes. He lowered his eyes to the ground as he continued. “It…it comforts me…when—when you’re with me,” Draco struggled to say. “After…after becoming a Death Eater, I lost every friend I had… And then Violet came along, and she changed everything for me. But then, as you probably already know, she…she was killed.

“I’ll be honest with you…I had lost all hope. After losing her, I was ready to devote myself completely to the Dark Lord and carry out all his bidding. But just like Violet, you showed up and…and renewed my hope.” He looked back up at me, and I could see the struggle he was going through to say these things to me in his eyes. “I don’t know what it is exactly…but there’s something about you that draws me to you. You’re so different—just like Violet. You have morals that stick to. Unlike all these Death Eaters who coward to oppose the Dark Lord, you’re will to if it opposes what you believe in. You are no coward like the rest of us.”

“You shouldn’t be saying these things to me,” I stuttered. Fighting my own tears, I added, “If the Dark Lord ever found out about these thoughts of yours, you will surely be killed for treason.”

“He won’t find out. At least not from you,” Draco said. “Like me, you’re a good person stuck in a bad situation and have nowhere else to turn. And that’s why I would like for the two of us to be friends, not just two teenagers who work together, so to say,” Draco smiled. “We can…lean on one another when things get too rough.”

“And if I were to say I didn’t need you?” I asked.

“But you do,” Draco said. “I’ve been in your shoes. Trying to stay strong on the outside while crumbling within.”

“How very poetic you are,” I forced myself to say in a rude tone.

“You don’t have to put up a brave front with me,” Draco said. “Even though you may be reluctant now…my offer still stands. If ever you just need to talk…I’ll be willing to listen,” Draco said as he slowly descended the stairs.

“No you won’t,” I whispered as I turned around and face him, “because you’re not Draco.”

“What?” Draco asked as he turned back and stared at me with a raised eyebrow. “What in the world are you talking about? Of course I’m Draco.”

“No you’re not,” I said sternly. “When did you return, my Lord?”

Draco smiled widely before beginning to chuckle. His voice suddenly got deeper, and before my very eyes, Draco transformed into Voldemort. The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of the drawing room. In front of me was Voldemort, who was sitting at the head of the long table.

“Very impressive,” Voldemort grinned as he applauded. “How did you know it wasn’t young Draco?”

“Draco wears a silver ring on his left middle finger,” I replied. “I didn’t see one.”

Voldemort laughed at my answer, but I knew he was…impressed. “You are very observant of Draco, I see. Do you fancy him?”

“Draco is simply someone I’m assigned to work with,” I replied. “Whether I care for him or not is irrelevant.”

“I see that Severus has rubbed off on you,” Voldemort commented. “I could hear his voice saying that exact phrase.”

“What was the point of this?”

“Just a bit of entertainment,” Voldemort replied. “You just happened to be walking by as I returned. Speaking of which…” Voldemort said as he pulled out his wand, “…what are you doing up at this hour of the night?”

“Simply checking up on the prisoners,” I replied. “Pettigrew has been lacking off since your departure.”

“Ah, yes…the prisoners,” Voldemort said as he pretended to examine his wand. “I noticed that there is fresh food and water for them. Are you responsible for that?”

I quiet gulped. “Yes.”

“And why would you go such a kind thing?” Voldemort asked as he glanced at me with those horrifying scarlet eyes of his.

“Prisoners must be healthy so that they can scream,” I quickly responded. “At least that’s what Alecto and Amycus viewed things.”

“Very good thinking…” Voldemort said while looking back to his wand, “…however, you forget, dear Victoria, that it is not your place to do such things.”

I immediately had a bad feeling.

“M—my Lord?” I shuttered.

The next thing I knew, I was whipped across the room and lying on the floor in pain. Voldemort was then hovering above me with a slight grin on his face. He then knelt down beside me with his wand out. Panic quickly raced through my veins and I tried to get up and flee. However, with one single flick of his wand, I was unable to move from the ground.

“This will only hurt for a moment,” he whispered.

“What are you doing?” I gasped as he brought his wand down to my exposed arm.

“Not many people get this honor,” Voldemort said as he pressed his wand against my arm. “This will only hurt for a moment.”

I suddenly let out a pain cry of pain. My arm felt as though it was on fire. Sticking my hand into lava would have probably been less painful than what I was feeling in that moment. But as Voldemort had said, the pain quickly came and then disappeared.

“Welcome,” he grinned before getting up and walking away.

I remained on the ground a while after Voldemort had left the room. I was still trying to catch my breath and absorb what just happened. I was terrified to look at my arm, but I knew that I would have to.

I held my breath as I slowly raised my left arm up to look at it. I immediately gasped and brought my right hand up to cover my cry.

There was no turning back now. I had become one of them. Voldemort had made me a Death Eater, and the proof was clearly displayed on my arm.